[A/N: i love Auto so much. And i recently finished the scantron one as i start this, and realized that i could probably swing some fics with them hanging out with other characters from the show. I already have one started with Shannon, and even something or other awful with Finkman. So let's play with the rest of the kids! This is the first of those with the only plot i thought up.

This fic's subject is Socks. I have some HCs about him that i can at least touch on in this one. Also, this one mentions Auto's family (who i suppose are also fancharacters, and apparently didn't have a proper surname until right now.). I don't know anything about makeup.

For background, Auto was the first of the three of the robots that the Martinezs designed in order to research schoolchildren (hers being middle schoolers), so technically she's the oldest. The second that was designed was her brother Cy Borg, who was made for high school and given a more mature personality; so Auto usually considered him an older brother. The last one, Annie Droid, was designed to be a child to fit in with the elementary students that she'd be studying, and of course she's the baby. Auto loves both of her siblings, but she and Annie are closer just bc Cy got "the depression" while Auto got "the anxiety," so Cy is kind of the standard moody teenager. Yes, i had that all planned out.

Feminine pronouns bc i'm talking about a male character and that makes it easy.

TW/CW: shopping, evening, spending time with family, seeing someone that you know at the store, anxiety, panic/attack, embarrassment, blatant lying, frustration, gender problems, secrets, reassurance, friendship]

Professor Martinez wasn't one to worry herself with makeup. She always had more important things to do than spend time in front of a mirror and paint her face so that people around her could find her "more appealing" to look at. She was a woman is science, and not at all unattractive, so putting on makeup really would have been a waste of time in a place that was so dominated by men: none of whom were able to handle the company of females at all to begin with. It only would have held her back, and she did not get to where she is today by worrying herself with what her face looked like.

Still, she had an important conference that was to be recorded coming soon, and she thought that she may as well put on a little concealer and eyeliner just so people take her seriously as a middle-aged woman in STEM. There was so much about the society around her work that she disliked, but she adored the work itself and would do anything in order to accomplish her goals. Including buy makeup at 8pm.

All of her robotic children accompanied her to the superstore that evening. Her highschooler, Cy Borg, actually did use a few different makeups to fit in with his assigned classmates, and because he liked the way it made him look. The child, Annie Droid, liked to get nail polishes so that she could paint the tips of her fingers; even though Cy found that certain spray paints worked best to temporarily cover parts of their chassis with a different color. The middle schooler, Auto Maton… came along just to come along.

The four of them went straight to the makeup area of the store first in order to get it out of the way. Prof. Martinez quickly glanced through the concealers, and Cy recommended the type of eyeliner that would work best for her. So half of this thing that she was dreading was already done with, and she walked away from the cosmetics satisfied. Her children decided to stay for a few minutes longer while she went and got groceries for her and her husband. Cy and Annie already knew the kind of stuff that they liked to look at, but Auto felt kind of lost, so she looked around.

Auto wandered past the aisles of the cosmetic stuff just examining the packaging of things. She always thought it was interesting how most of them followed some basic rules related to art and psychology, and some stood out because they didn't follow any of that. She wondered which of them actually sold better.

Passing by one of the aisles, she spotted a blond boy looking at some of the concealers. She recognized him as one of her friends and quickly doubled back to go and greet him. "Hello Socks!!!" She waved happily and smiled wide as she approached him.

Socks jumped at the sound, panicking because somebody that he knew saw him here in the makeup aisle. He dropped the containers that he was looking at onto the floor, and fumbled to pick them up again. "Auto!!! Wh-wh-what are y-you doing here?!" His voice cracked into pitches that didn't seem right belonging to a boy.

Auto didn't mind, because that's how Socks usually sounded. "I was shopping for makeup with my mom! My siblings are right around the corner here." She motioned her thumb. "What are you up to here???"

Socks tried to push the containers back onto the shelf in a clumsy manner, knocking more of them onto the floor and messing up the store's organization of them. "N-nothing! I'm not doing anything here!" He swiped his hands behind his back and dodged his eyes around. "I'm- i'm-i'm, uuhh… just looking for makeup for my girlfriend!" He swung a fist anxiously. "Y-yyUP! Looking for makeup for my girlfriend, that definitely exists! Boy, does she like makeup! 'Caaause she's a girl, that's real!"

Auto tilted her head, not picking up on why Socks was acting like this. She asked, "oh, you have a girlfriend, Socks??? I didn't know that about you!" She stepped toward him with her hands together. "What's her name? Can i meet her sometime???" She blinked cutely twice.

Socks stepped back. He scratched the back of his head and was sweating a lot at this point. "Oh! Uh, yeah, about that…" He poked his index fingers together but refused to look at Auto. "She, uh, actually just went away to v-visit her… cousins!" He nodded, "yup, she's visiting her cousins iiinnn… Zimbabwe!" He shook his head, "and she won't be back for, um… two months! Yeee-ah, she won't be back for two months! Or, um… actually it was three months… N-no no, wait, i-it was four months. Y-yeah, sh-she said she'll be gone for four months. In Zimbabwe!" He rolled his eyes and his whole body followed. "Yup! It's a long ways away! And a long time away! Hahaaaa, but she's definitely real! And she definitely likes makeup!" He grimaced at Auto.

Auto stared at him with wide eyes, knowing that he was nervous and anxious, but still not understanding why. "Oh." She glanced away. "Okayyy…" She turned back to Socks quizzically. "Sooo, um… why are you looking for makeup for her now???" Socks seemed terrified. "Are you going to send her a care package?"

Socks perked up, deciding to go with it. "Yes! I-i'm sending her a care package! With makeup! Because she likes makeup! Because she's a girl! That exists!!!" He managed to grin a little bit better.

Auto tapped her frowny mouth. "I see. B-but, wouldn't it take a long time to get there?? A-and i think it would have to go through a lot of customs, especially if it had stuff like cosmetics in it." Socks' heart sounded like it weighed a thousand pounds and physically dropped on the ground. Auto looked at him shyly. "M-maybe you should just make her a coming-home package instead. That way you have more time to collect things for her and don't have to worry about postage and all of that." She smiled at him.

Socks dodged his eyes around. "Uuuuhhh… yyeeeaaah! Good point! I-i'll just make her a coming-home package instead!" He grinned wider than he should have, sweat pouring around the curves of his face.

"Awww, that's very nice of you, Socks! I'm sure she'll love it!!" Auto grinned. She thought about it. "Oh, but you said she will be gone for a few months. Why are you so anxious about it right now??? You have lots of time! And i'll even help you collect gifts for her if you want!" She smiled genuinely. "You should try to calm down, Socks. It's aaalll going to be okay." Socks calmed down enough to smile.

Auto added. "And because all of the sweat from the nerves is making your own makeup run pretty badly." She made an awkwardly apologetic face.

Socks's heart stopped, and then beat at a million miles an hour. He felt like he was in the vacuum of space. His eyes were enormous in his head and staring straight at Auto. "M-m-m-MY makeup???!"

Auto didn't want to embarrass him. "Yyyeeeah… Um, i think you should maybe wipe it off so that it doesn't look as bad. D-do you want me to fetch you a box of tissues???" She motioned with her thumb again.

Socks was stupefied. He didn't know how to answer. He stood stiff for about 30 full seconds. "I… i-i…" He opened his eyes wide back to life. "I don't wear makeup!!! Makeup is for girls!!! Only girls wear makeup!!!"

Auto didn't want to point out that he was very clearly wearing makeup right there. She glanced away. "i… i guess so… traditionally…" She shrugged, and looked back at him to try and reassure him. "B-but actors and anchormen also wear makeup! And so do some of the guys in those metal bands that you like! All those men wear makeup, too!"

Socks' voice broke badly again. "'Too???!!' I'm not wearing makeup!!!"

Auto grimaced. She didn't want to tell him how obvious it was that his makeup was pouring off of his face. "Iiii meant that they wear makeup like how women do."

"Men don't wear makeup!!! We wear dirt and grease on our faces!!! We have beards on our faces!!! We don't wear makeup!!!" But his voice really did sound like a girl's now.

Auto felt bad about upsetting him so badly that he was shouting. "Rrrriiight… but my mother wears dirt and grease on her face much more often than she wears makeup, and she's a woman." She didn't know how to go about differentiating between what was for male humans and what was for female humans, as she never had a personal reference or understanding of how they decided those things, especially things like hygiene products. "I-i-is grease supposed to only be worn by men???"

Socks backed off of her because she was now somewhat cowering in front of him and he didn't mean to scare her. "Wh-what?... i-i guess not…" It made him calm down some. "But makeup is for girls."

Auto really did not understand why that was supposed to be the case, but Socks was obviously passionate about it, so he must know the main reasons really well. "W-why???"

Socks' energy changed again. He glanced around as he tried to think of what to say. "B-because!" There wasn't exactly an answer to suffice a robot. "Only girls wear makeup!"

"But men are capable of wearing makeup, too, right???"

"... Y-yes…" He looked right at her. "But it's girly. So masculine men don't wear makeup."

"B-but…" She tilted her head down again and looked up at him. "Is it girly because girls wear it???"

"Yeah!"

That felt like using a word in its own dictionary definition, which she hated because it didn't help anybody. "Would it be manly if men wore it???" That should make some sense: it means that this substance takes up a quality of something on which it is applied, like all purpose greases (which are also manly on men's faces, apparently).

"I, um…" Socks looked like he was becoming disappointed with himself. "I don't know." He sighed. "Auto, you're making this really hard for me."

Auto looked down at the floor and held her hands together. "I'm sorry, Socks. I'm sorry that i upset you."

He huffed more out of exhaustion than frustration. "It's fine, Auto. Just don't tell anyone that i was here."

Auto felt terrible. "I won't…" She wanted to try and cheer him up. "Y-you know… for what it's worth… i don't think that you're any less masculine for wearing makeup." She glanced at him, and then looked away again. "If it makes you feel good and confident, then it just helps you act more like yourself. And you're not feminine, Socks."

Socks deflated. He felt like Auto was getting down to his deepest secret insecurities without saying much. He was almost at a loss for words. "Uh… th… thanks, Auto…"

She gave them both a moment. "I won't tell anyone that you wear makeup, either."

Socks stared at her for a couple of seconds before accepting that, too. He sighed, "thanks Auto." He considered telling her something. "Y'know, i started wearing makeup to hide some of my acne. I-it gets pretty bad sometimes. But i found that… i really kind of like wearing makeup. I feel like i look better with it, and that makes me happy." He sighed again. "But makeup is so feminine! I don't want people to know that i wear makeup because i don't want them to think that i'm feminine!"

Auto greatly appreciated that he shared an actual secret with her. She wanted to show more support to thank him for it. "I understand. But i meant what i said: it doesn't make you any more feminine or less masculine for wearing it."

Socks stayed quiet for a minute. He wasn't honestly sure if he cared whether either of those things were actually true. All he was concerned about was the way that other people saw him now, because he would do most anything to avoid being bullied. Case and point, he wore makeup to cover up acne so that people wouldn't make fun of him for all of his pimples. He felt like he was always walking a tightrope in order to not fall on either side of the fence, and he felt like that with a lot of things recently. He sighed.

"Um, Socks?? Do you know if you're allergic to anything in cosmetics???"

Socks looked up at Auto. "Oh. Uh… n-no, i don't know that i am. Why???"

"Because there are some ingredients in makeup that are more likely to cause acne and clog up your pores. If you already have problems with that stuff, then it'll probably be best to avoid using stuff with those ingredients. Also, using stuff with allergens of yours in them will worsen it, too." Auto didn't exactly like the explaining part of things like this, but she did like when other people learned things. "I'll look through the ingredients of these concealer brands and tell you which ones would be better for you." She started picking up several containers of concealers and turning them around to quickly scan through the drug information.

Socks was surprised as she offered and stepped out of the way just in time when she started shuffling through things, replacing them correctly when she didn't see anything she liked on a given container. He watched her flip through the containers, and he realized that she really didn't mean any harm when she was asking him all those questions. He smiled and waited for her to turn back around.

"I think that one of these ones will probably work best for you." Auto stepped to him with a couple of different brands. "I tried to pick the colors that would best match your skintone."

Socks took them from her and smiled. "Thanks Auto. I appreciate it."

Hearing words like that always made Auto's circuits wir warm and happy. She grinned wide. "Of course Socks!!!" She tilted her head a little bit. "I could find some good colors for your girlfriend, too, if you could show me a picture of her for reference sometime."

Socks huffed a chuckle and gently shook his head. "Sure, Auto. Maybe next time."